Beyond the Edge season 1: recaps, the winner, the cast and everything we know about the new reality series

CBS once again pits celebrities against one another in the new competition series Beyond the Edge. Perhaps inspired by the success of Celebrity Big Brother, Naked and Afraid producers have created a new show that sees nine famous personalities trade in their luxurious lifestyles for some time in the jungles of Panama. They'll make this sacrifice with the hopes of winning money for their chosen charities.

Besides wanting to know when the show airs, one of the biggest questions surrounding the series is which celebrities will be on it? Here’s everything we know about Beyond the Edge. 

When is the next Beyond the Edge episode? 

Beyond the Edge season 1 is back with an all-new episode airing live on CBS Wednesday, May 18, at 9 pm ET/PT, following a new episode of Survivor. You won't want to miss it as the celebrities duke it out in the season finale. 

The next episode is titled "One More Adventure" 

Beyond the Edge season 1 cast 

Meet the cast of Beyond the Edge season 1 and start making your predictions as to who will win. 

This season features singer and former American Idol contestant Lauren Alaina; Super Bowl MVP and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis; Army veteran and country music star Craig Morgan; NBA champion Metta World Peace (or Metta Sandiford-Artest, after he legally changed his name again in 2020); model and actress Paulina Porizkova; Super Bowl winner and former NFL coach Mike Singletary; Full House actress Jodie Sweetin; former NFL player and Bachelor Colton Underwood; and television host and former Real Housewives of New York star Eboni K. Williams. 

With pro athletes, former reality television personalities and a Celebrity Big Brother alum in Metta World Peace, it’s hard for one to pick a favorite to win going into the season.

Beyond the Edge season 1 host 

Hosting Beyond the Edge season 1 is sports announcer and commentator, Mauro Ranallo. Viewers will recognize Ranallo from WWE SmackDown and from Showtime’s EliteXC, Strikeforce and Showtime Championship Boxing.

It’s interesting to note that Ranallo is the first sports broadcaster in history to call kickboxing, boxing, MMA and pro wrestling on national television in the United States.

Beyond the Edge season 1 premise 

Despite taking place in the jungle, Beyond the Edge producers have made it clear that this is not Survivor. CBS describes the show by saying: 

“For two weeks, the celebrities will see if they have the grit to withstand torrential downpours, scorching heat and deadly wildlife while living in the exotic Panama jungle. There won’t be any judges or eliminations — instead, each celebrity must rely on their inner fortitude, physical ability and courage, and have faith in their teammates to endure in the wild. For each day they last, and every grueling adventure challenge they win with their team, the celebrities will raise more money for their charities. If a player reaches their breaking point, they can ring a bell to signal that they are ready to go home. At the end of the 14 days, the top two earners will go head to head in one final adventure, to see who can become the Beyond the Edge champion and take home the most money for their charity.”

Beyond the Edge season 1 trailer 

Based on the trailer for Beyond the Edge season 1, it’s hard to guess which celebrities make it to the end because there are some challenging circumstances ahead.

Beyond the Edge recaps

Episode 1

In the premiere episode of Beyond the Edge season 1, it became pretty clear that the competition is going to push all the celebrities to the brink. During the first challenge of the season, the contestants were split into the Red Team led by Jodie Sweeten and the Blue Team led by Paulina Porizkova. From the beginning of this jungle obstacle course, it looked as if the Red Team would win given the amount of ease they had getting the items in their crate rolled from point A to point B.(Although, it should be mentioned that Sweeten injured her foot in the process). 

However, once both teams made it in the water, Eboni K. Williams quickly gave the Blue Team an advantage with her kayaking expertise with paddling. After the Blue Team paddled their way back to dry land, the only thing that stood in their way to victory was a choice to either take a direct route to solve the puzzle, or to take a time-consuming route but gain a clue on how to piece the puzzle together. 

Despite team leader Porizkova expressing her desire to take the clue, the team decided to take the direct route. A decision that cost them the challenge and money for their respective charities. 

By the end of the episode, despite Williams questioning her value as a teammate in the competition and Metta World Peace’s insistence he wanted to leave to go back to his family, no one rings the bell to go home. 

Episode 2

Episode 2 of Beyond the Edge season 1 kicks off with the celebrities realizing that it’s not easy sleeping in the jungle. Especially, when it rains. Porizkova describes sleeping in about 3 inches of cold water, while Ray Lewis reminds viewers of the loud noises from the animals (perhaps monkeys) they had to contend with at night. 

After the contestants get dressed for the day, they split into three teams of three led by Mike Singletary, Lauren Alaina and Colton Underwood. Good thing Alaina choose Craig Morgan to be on her team because he was incredibly determined to win this challenge. Despite Underwood’s team being in a very close second, Morgan’s determination and methodical planning of each obstacle course of the competition made Alaina’s team impossible to beat. 

With Alaina being on two winning teams thus far in the series, she is now on top of the leader board. 

Unfortunately, as this week's episode comes to a close, Metta World Peace determines his desire to see his family outweighs his desire to stay in the competition. He rings the bell and goes home despite the protest of his fellow contestants Singletary and Ray Lewis. On that note, did anyone else think Lewis looked incredibly disappointed in Metta World Peace’s decision?

Episode 3 

At the start of the episode, while talking to the cameras about Meta World Peace’s departure from the jungle, Colton Underwood is bitten by a snake. Thankfully for him, after a quick medical assessment, it’s determined the snake bite is not venomous. After a night of sleep, or very little sleep in the case for most of the celebrities, Underwood appears to still be in some pain going into the day’s competition. 

Following the announcement of this week’s challenge, the group splits into two teams of four. Eboni K. Williams is the captain of one of them, and on her team are Ray Lewis, Jodie Sweeten and Mike Singletary (the coach has to be the nicest cast member on the show, he’s always positive and motivational). On the other team led by Craig Morgan are Colton Underwood, Lauren Alaina and Paulina Porizkova. 

Initially, it looks like the squad led by Williams is off to a great start. However, Williams and crew literally hit a wall when Singeltary has a hard time climbing one, putting the team behind. The team was placed further behind after Sweeten had to make an exhausting swim in the water. In the end, Morgan and company were just too far ahead and won the challenge. 

With no going home this week, the question on everyone’s mind should be, “Can anyone stop Lauren Alaina?” She continues to lead the pack. 

Episode 4

The fourth episode of Beyond the Edge opens with the remaining contestants trying to deal with ant infestations in their sleeping quarters. While ants don’t sound too harmful, apparently they were biting and quite bothersome. Also, prior to the start of the challenges for the day, Eboni K. Williams goes up to Lauren Alaina and outright said she wanted to be on the country singer’s team given Alaina’s propensity for winning. 

At competition time, it becomes a battle between Ray Lewis and coach Mike Singletary. On Lewis’ team is Craig Morgan, Jodie Sweeten and Paulina Porizkova. Singletary selected Colton Underwood, Williams and Alaina. (We should note that as the teams were being determined, Porizkova was just happy not to be chosen last.)

Alaina may have come into the competition a little insecure about how she would stack against the other contestants, but the show’s frontrunner took charge of Singeltary’s team early, putting the squad ahead of Lewis and company. Then the competition gets close when everyone’s favorite coach falls out of the team’s raft into the water. Things got worse for Singletary’s team when they dropped a bag of their items into the water and had to retrieve it. At this point, it looks like Lewis’ team is going to run away with this. 

However, Alaina once again uses her knack for puzzles to benefit her team. Coming from behind and without a clue, Singletary’s team wins. It was an emotional win for Williams who has yet to be in the winner’s circle. 

Now this week at the communal ceremony, a few of the contestants appeared as if they wanted to give up and ring the bell. Shockingly, it looked as if Lewis was going to bow out of the competition for the sake of his kids. But in the end, no one went home. 

Episode 5

As the new episode starts, Craig Morgan, Lauren Alaina and Colton Underwood have a conversation about the fact they are the top three contestants, and today’s challenge will be a make-or-break moment for those celebrities at the bottom of the leader board. Again, only the top two contestants get to compete in the end for the grand prize, and a player like Jodie Sweeten can’t afford to lose another competition if she wants to be one of those two. 

Prior to the day’s challenge, the celebrities split into two teams. One team led by Alaina has Ray Lewis, Mike Singletary and Eboni K. Williams. The other led by Sweeten has Underwood, Morgan, and Paulina Porizkova. Once the competition begins, Sweeten is able to coach her group to a huge lead over Alaina’s squad. Making things worse for the latter’s team, Alaina falls and hurts her foot. In the end, Sweeten claims a much-needed victory, and she no longer finds herself at the bottom of the leader board. 

Then came a moment no one could have predicted even a week ago. The person who has earned the most money, leading the other contestants, decides to ring the bell. Unfortunately, the fall that Alaina took was more serious than she thought as she tore a ligament in her foot and was advised by the doctor to return home. Essentially, Alaina was forced to ring the bell. 

Episode 6

Before the challenge gets underway, Colton Underwood takes the initiative to lead a stretching session for himself, Paulina Porizkova and Jodie Sweeten. Additionally, Eboni leaves camp to see a dentist about her damaged crown (causing her to miss the competition for the day), and Coach Mike Singletary is set to celebrate his birthday with a win. 

Next, the celebrities split into two teams. On one team is Underwood, Porizkova and Craig Morgan. The other team is comprised of Ray Lewis, Singletary and Sweeten. Although Lewis’ squad takes an early lead, it appears that fatigue set in for Singeltary. It doesn’t take long for Underwood’s squad to wrestle the lead from the other team. However, under Underwood’s leadership, his squad opts not to take the clue for the final puzzle, which wound up costing them the win. Lewis' team comes out victorious and claims the $50,000 prize and massages. 

Due to her inability to compete, Eboni is now last in the leaderboard. That ultimately would not matter much, as she found out her tooth situation is worse than she thought due to a cavity and infection. She decides to ring the bell and go home. 

Episode 7

With Eboni K. Williams and Lauren Alaina both gone due to health issues, the well-being of the remaining celebrities is under a microscope in the opening of the episode. Jodie Sweeten believes she has an ear infection and Paulina Porizkova is in quite a bit of pain herself. This doesn’t sound good going into the day’s challenge. 

Host Mauro Ranallo meets up with the celebrities and tells them they’ll need to split into teams of three for the day’s competition.  Ray Lewis and Colton Underwood pair up, Craig Morgan and Mike Singeltary form a team and the last pair consists of Sweeten and Porizkova. 

Unlike many of the challenges so far, this one starts off with a puzzle. Lewis and Underwood get out to a quick lead over the competition by solving the puzzle first. Trailing behind them are Morgan and Singletary with Sweeten and Porizkova pulling the rear. The teams navigate the jungle and answer pop culture trivia questions along the way before they finally meet back up with Ranallo. In the end, using athleticism and their knowledge of pop culture, Lewis and Underwood win the day’s challenge. Underwood extends his lead on top of the leaderboard, while Porizkova is sitting on the bottom. 

In a nice surprise for the celebrities, it is revealed that each of them gets to view a video message from loved ones back home. However, in a not-so-nice surprise, Sweeten goes to see a doctor and finds out she has a bacterial infection in both ears. Despite the contestants feeling homesick, and some of them being in physical pain, no one decides to ring the bell. 

Episode 8

The episode opens with a series first. Paulina Porizkova rings the bell before the Lanterns meeting because she is in too much pain to continue in the competition. She leaves with $34,000 for her charity. Once she leaves, Mike Singeltary and Colton Underwood are named as captains for the day’s challenge. 

Now with Porizkova gone, there are five contestants left, meaning one of the teams would have more people. Underwood opts to just be a duo with him and Ray Lewis, leaving Singeltary to take on Jodie Sweeten and Craig Morgan on his team. As the competition gets underway, Singeltary’s team takes the early lead and that lead expands once Lewis takes a pretty hard fall on a stump. However, once Lewis shakes off the sting of the incident, he and Underwood manage to catch up and pass Singeltary’s team due to Sweeten struggling to get across the ladder at the tower crossing point. 

As Underwood and Lewis sail to the final stages of the competition to decipher the phrase as a part of the puzzle aspect of the challenge, they decide to first get a clue to help them. That proved to be the right decision, as it ultimately helped them be victorious for the day. Underwood is still on top of the leaderboard with $100,500, and shockingly, Morgan is in last place with $44,000. 

No one else decides to go home. 

Episode 9

After a heart-touching moment between Ray Lewis and Craig Morgan, and an equally touching moment between Mike Singeltary and Colton Underwood, the contestants meet up with host Mauro Ranallo. In a plot twist, he announces that there won’t be any team captains for the day’s challenge. 

Instead, they will each need to run through a course, and the faster time they run the more money they can win for their charity. First place wins $30,000, second place wins $20,000 and the amount continues to lower with fifth place winning $5,000. This is an important challenge for all of the contestants outside of Lewis and Underwood who have already solidified their spots in the final adventure. 

Along the course, the celebrities must run through the swamp, collect a ball from the snake pit and blindly keep throwing that ball until they hit a specific target. As each contestant runs through the course, a few of them have some hiccups. Jodie Sweeten struggles with getting her ball from the snake pit, Morgan has difficulty with the puzzle, Lewis is bothered by his knee and Singeltary loses a shoe to the swamp. 

The results of the competition are announced later at the lantern ceremony and are as follows: Lewis finishes first, Morgan second, Underwood third, Sweeten fourth and Singeltary fifth. With those results, Lewis rises to the top of the leader board, with Underwood and Morgan behind him respectively. Feeling like her body has allowed her to do all that she can in the jungle, Sweeten rings the bell and goes home. 

Episode 10

In the series finale, it boils down to a competition between Ray Lewis and Colton Underwood. They both finished first and second respectively in terms of how much money they’ve won so far, and they’ll go head to head for the chance to win the grand prize of $100,000 (and the teammate of the winner gets $50,000). But first, the two are joined by Craig Morgan and Mike Singeltary to deliver toys to a local Panamanian school. 

After completing their volunteer work, decisions are made and Lewis chooses Morgan as his teammate, leaving Underwood to partner with Singeltary. As the competition gets underway, Team Underwood takes the early lead, but they quickly lose it as Lewis and Morgan make up ground at the balance beams. Then while Lewis and Underwood are running out of a bat cave, Lewis hits his head on a branch and falls. However, he’s able to shake off the sting of the incident and continue on with the race. 

The rest of the competition between the two squads remains pretty even going into the “puzzle” aspect of the challenge. 

Who winds up winning? 

Who wins Beyond the Edge season 1?

In the end, it’s Underwood who wins. He and Singeltary manage to defeat Lewis and Morgan. Underwood takes home $100,000 for the Legacy Foundation and Singeltary $50,000 for Changing Our Perspective.  

How to watch Beyond the Edge 

Beyond the Edge will air in the US on the CBS television network, and be available to stream live and on-demand on the CBS app and Paramount Plus. 

CBS is also accessible via a majority of live TV streaming services, including popular ones like FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV. And if Paramount Plus is the preferred method of streaming the series, Paramount Plus offers both a $9.99 per month and $4.99 per month plan.  

Will there be another season of Beyond the Edge? 

Sadly, CBS has decided to cancel the show.